Slow Progress, Quick Changes
by MidknightHikari
Summary: Zim has been on Earth for 5 years, and hasn't called the Tallest In 2 and a half years. One transmission later, and the Tallest have a completely different outlook on Zim. Zim's made the Earth his personal quest, however Dib will manipulate Zim in order to get what he's been wanting for 5 years. ZaDR.
1. Personal Missions

**Slow Progress, Quick Changes**

_5 Earth years later, June 16th XXXX  
_

It was a regular day for the Irken empire, more specifically the leaders of the Empire known as Tallest Red and Tallest Purple. The absurdly tall aliens were stuffing their faces (as usual) with doughnuts, varying from glazed to sugared. The pair were in a trance of idle chit chat until an realisation hit the one adorned in high ranking Irken purple attire.

"Hey! You know who we haven't heard from In a while? Zim!" Stated purple. The Irken In red blinked a few times In silence before turning his head to face his partner, thinking about how long It's been since he's heard the annoying voice of Zim.

"Come to think of It, I can't remember the last time he's informed us of his idiotic plans..."

"Computer!" Tallest Purple shouted, "How long has It been since Zim's last transmission?"

A moment of silence was present until a technician on the platform above the tallest spoken. "The last transmission was approximately 24 years ago, my Tallest, 2 ½ Earth years, Sir."

"Has It really been that long, are you sure you have the right files?" Asked Red in disbelief, as there had been many times Zim has called the Massive non stop, even to clarify that the Massive was near Earth!

"Positive, my Tallest," said the Irken technician. Even after the clarification of Zim's last call, they were still in disbelief.

"Let's call Zim, see how much progress he's really done, probably failing and too embarrassed to face us," smirked Red, him and purple snickering at the thought. In mere seconds a call was made to Earth, and a minuet later the call was broadcasting on the big screen, indicating there was life at the end of the signal.

The previous smirk that were adorning both the Tallest face were wiped off instantly as soon as Zim showed up on the transmission, even the technician's seemed phased by what they saw.  
Zim... he changed.

The Irken stranger was sitting on his chair, slumped down, playing idly with a jagged knife, both legs crossed over and elevated up onto his control panel. His legs were long and slender, even from his sitting position, he looked incredibly tall, enough for the Tallest to worry about their authority. Zim's boots and matt fitted vinyl leggings haven't changed, however he was wearing no top or gloves.

Tallest purple almost choked at the sight of Zim's torso; It was covered in scars that were darker than his natural pigment, some big and deep and others just mere scratches, however the ones that stuck out were the light pink cuts, indicating that they were fresh and not close to the scar healing stage.

Red, was also, taken back by Zim's wounds, he'd never seen a sight like this before, not once has he witnessed an Irken with so much mutilation.

What seem to struck the Tallest was the lack of excitement that use to be evident In Zim's posture and facial expression, which was replaced with a look of boredom and even irritation. Zim's hot pink eyes seem to have a faint grey hue and dark circles around his ocular implants, however it was uncertain with the darkness of the 'Invader's' lab. The once chirpy alien had now changed into a creature devoid of any positive emotions.

"Yes, my Tallest? To what do I owe this... unexpected call, I was in the midst of tiring research." Zim spoke in a chilling voice, deep and ominous, not his unusual, child like voice.

Both of the Tallest found themselves speechless before Tallest Red snapped from the trance, speaking up first.

"I Zim-uh, I-" The one sheathed in red stuttered, the sudden sight of the 'new zim' taken him off guard, rethinking about the whole call. Calming himself mentally and coughing into his stick like claws-to seem like he was clearing his throat- he finally spoke coherently. "We were checking in on you, to see your progress." Truthfully, Operation Impending Doom II ended before Zim stopped calling, the Invaders had successfully taken over their assigned planets, and since Zim wasn't programmed as an invader into the control brains, the operation ended with no interruptions or delays.

Zim's antennae perked up, his eyes narrowing in scepticism. Eventually he held the knife he was playing with towards the screen directly at his leaders.

"_You_ want to know how I'm doing with my _invasion_?" Grunted Zim, a scowl forming on his features. The 'stranger' Irken examined the Tallest expressions, suppressing a smile at the fear they were emitting, obviously not used to the dark aura coming from Zim.

"That's right, how's your progress?" Purple piped in, thinking he needed to act his authoritative position in front of a lower ranking Irken.

"Slow..._ very_ slow." Zim lowered his arm with the accusing knife, both arms propped on the arm rest of his magenta chair. "More slow than I would like to admit, my _Tallest_... everything is changing, too fast for my liking; the laws, the absurd trends, the scenery, the people..." Zim paused, looking down temporarily before lifting his head up to face his leaders, a neutral expression taking place on his face. "I'm afraid with the constant changes and the never ending information needed to be obtained, It'll be years before I can even ponder a full blown invasion and slavery. Not only the mandatory needs of this mission, I have personal tasks that can't afford to be left unfinished."

The Almighty Tallest listened, genuinely interested in what Zim had to say. During the early stages of Zim's mission the Tallest were only interested in certain things like the height of the humans and their weaponry.

"Why do you need all that information?" Asked Tallest Red.

"Because the control brains have no information about Earth what so ever, It's more of a personal quest than anything, It would help me with decision making upon the fate of the planet, seeing as It's not charted as Irken property, I'm making it my own work."

"W-wait, sure It's charted as Irken-"Red was going to protest with plastic information until Zim interrupted his leader.

"No, It's not." Zim narrowed his eyes, which made Tallest Purple sink into his chair, hugging his bag of doughnuts for comfort. "It seems you still take me as a fool I used to be, my Tallest you do realise my age, don't you? I may have been the stupid _defective _idiot when I was 159 years old, but other contributing factors such as 49 Irken years on a _completely _different planet, where each person is _different _and not a replica." At this point, Zim swung his feat and calmly stood up straight, placing the knife on the dimly lit control panel. "All I ask is to be treated as an Invader, a proper one, not one to pass the time, It was my mistake to trust you when my mind was naïve. After I've done what Is needed to be done, I'll bring back something that will be in your favour." Zim was holding back a grimaced expression, knowing full well what the offering he had in mind, but the thought being too simple.

Both Red and Purple took Zim's words to heart, listening carefully and thanking what ever entity out there that it didn't end with a death threat, since Zim's intimidating appearance was enough to set them off edge, never mind him stating that he could betray them.

"I see... and what will this offering be?" Questioned Red, relaxing at Zim's sincerity.

"I'd like to keep it a surprise." More like refrain from having to have a long winded discussion about Zim's offering.  
The marked and grazed alien say back down, slumping into his seat lazily and propping an elbow upon the arm rest, his head tilted into his palm while his legs were spread apart. In shorter words, the image of sloppiness and his missing top only topped it off-which brought curiosity to Tallest Purple.

"Zim... what happened to you?" Purple asked, his voice high pitched and innocent, naturally It was, however his eyes tinged with sparse traces of fear.

In response, the battered and bruised Irken chuckled quietly and briefly, before answering.

"I was naïve."

As if on cue, an alarm went off on Zim's side of the transmission, a red tinge in the base to empathize the problem. Naturally both parties on the line jumped up from the sudden news, a sub-screen on the right of Zim illuminating video footage of a black panther scratching and bashing the walls of the rusty old cell, chipping the metal effortlessly in an attempt to escape. Unfortunately, the sub-screen was angled away from the Tallest view, so all they could hear was intimidating howls and chilling scratches.

"Underground block C1, subject C-02 is ferociously attacking the holding cell and approximately 6 minuets away from breaking free from the cell," piped the computer, which Zim reacted to the news in disdain.

"That _fucking_..." Zim swore under his breath while he hit the control panel, in a vain attempt to relieve the boiling rage of the annoying task of sedating the retched animal. However, the act caused the connection between the Tallest and Zim to cut off inadvertently.

A few seconds of silence passed In the Massives main deck, before the technician's above the Tallest started whispering to each other, inaudible for their leaders to hear though.

"What... what did Zim say before the transmission was cut off?" Questioned Purple, confused at the foreign word Zim used In vexation. Red ignored his partners question which all the Irken's who witnessed the call wanted to know the answer to.

"Did you see the way he spoke towards me?! Back when he was a naïve little pest he was something to laugh at but now-!"

"Calm down!" Interrupted Purple, cutting Red off in an attempt to bring his growing anger down. "He's changed a bit... okay, a lot, but you heard what he said, It'll take him years to finish what ever he wants, and It's not like we want the Earth, we didn't know It existed before Zim found It!"

Red found himself registering the facts Purple was feeding him, understanding his point as he goes on.

"Long story short, we have Zim staying on that planet and away from us, and when he's done, we'll get something."

"And what do we do when he comes back? You've seen his height! I could've passed out when he stood up!"

"We've got along time before we even need to worry about Zim's return," smiled Purple, holding up his bag of flattened doughnuts up in the air. Red caught the concept and smiled, his eyes half lidded, as if he was relieved in a way. Purple was a dumb moron at times, but Red wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

_30 Earth minuets later..._

The disguised house was quiet-which seemed more than not frequent- but the sounds of Zim's shallow panting damaged the silence through out the strange house. Zim was lying on the settee, his body just as long as the settee itself, his arms covering his eyes. He felt a 'migraine' forming, as the humans called It; come to think of it, he never actually experienced these 'migraines' before he came to Earth.

Zim was exhausted from the battle with the black panther, It would've taken too long to hook the liquid sedative injection onto a control arm that was capable of travelling around the house and base, in which, with no choice, Zim had to enter the cell of the violent creature and inject the animal manually. Without Zim's PAK legs to help him gain height above the panthers reach, he would've been in shreds.

The Irken face scrunched up in affliction, turning over and sinking head into the plushness of the Settee. Lucky for Zim, he could feel himself regaining energy from his PAK, In a matter of minuets he would be back to his research.

After a minuet or so, Zim felt physically better, turning over on his back he intertwined his hands and then stretched them as far as he could over his head, arching his back as well to relieve the stiffness. A pained gasp erupted from the alien as some of the irritating and itchy cuts over his body split and opened, restarting the healing clock for those particularly gashes. Zim grunted in realisation, having to put up with the wounds was bad enough, but having the healing time prolonged was just plain annoyance.

Suddenly, the house 'telephone' erupted with an ear piercing ring. Zim couldn't remember how he got such a vintage communication device along with his home, but what he definitely knew was who was on the other line.

Grunting, Zim dragged his stick thin body down the hallway to where the phone resided, lifting the plastic attachment and seizing it's noise. Before Zim had time to talk, he was cut off by the person at the end of the line.

"It mustn't have taken a lot to leave you in a panting mess, what happened to you, space boy?" A sly voice from his arch rival for 5 years emitted from the receiving end of Zim's phone. Dib Membrane. His most hated enemy out of all the filthy humans In the world, but he's closest thing he has to company, even if It's unwanted which is 99 percent of the time.

Zim scoffed at the innuendo-after the conversion from middle school to high school (Hi Skool) Zim learned pretty quickly the pathetic witty remarks revolving around sex, which was unfortunately what he was surrounded by when it came to idiot males in school.

"Listen shit head, either tell me where you hid the camera or I will happily rip off your arse off and hand it to you!" Zim barked down the phone, receiving a chuckle in response. While Zim was out of the house he must've forgotten to shut GIR in the underground base, since then Dib has been able to access a clear view into Zim's living room area, luckily enough, just his living room. It still agitates the alien, knowing that his home, his privacy has someone watching it, he avoids the living room because of the thought of Dib getting the footage that he wants.

"Tut tut, you'll never get anything with that attitude. Or the footage."

The realisation hit Zim, cussing silently as he hastily felt his head to feel nothing but his bare skin and antennae, no wig for at least an attempt to say he has a skin condition as well as pink eye, It always works.

"'The Alley', be there are 6 O'clock sharp, It'll be much more amusing In person." With a light chuckle, Dib hung up, leaving Zim exasperated. 'The Alley' was a rendezvous for Zim and Dib, It was public for certain groups, typically chavs and pot dealers and the occasional person who happens to walk through the alley, other than that, it was theirs. They meet early In the morning to avoid the public, and generally the fights between the pair don't last over an hour, at 7 O'clock or before they go home to prepare for school or carry on with everyday lives.

"That wretched little...!" In frustration, Zim through the phone attachment with full force to the floor, however with it's spiral cable it only lightly hit the floor with minimal damage, bouncing up and down, mocking Zim.  
It was 2 O'clock in the morning on a Monday, four hours until he had to meet up with Dib.

Eventually, the Irken went over to his chambers to put on his 'Earth Attire' as he calls it, consisting of fitted black trousers (which he was still uncomfortable with) a white t-shirt and a choice of purple, pink, maroon, royal blue, dark green or black jumpers-today, he picked out black. After putting his Earth attire on he went down to the underground base for further research about the planet's History, laughing at how the League of Nations failed miserably.

* * *

_AN: I don't even know why I started a new story which will involve chapters, since I have other stories I need to desperately finish. It must be something about staying up all night just to finish it... I'm knackered, I wish I went to bed... :/ _  
_As always I have a promising plot inside my head that's very vague and then boom, realisation will hit me that I should have planned It out more, aha~ _

_**1:** If you're wondering, the school year system is British, which instead of grades, It's years (6th grade will be year 6, ect..) also school hours would be 9 AM-3:30 PM._  
_**2:** Earth time, Zim is 21 and Dib is 16, and by Irken time, Zim is 208 years old, don't ask my way of converting the ages and times, It's stupid ¬.¬"_  
_**3: **And the ever dying question Is content, It's ZaDR (of course) and It's mostly rivalry, angst and hurt/comfort however I do have plans for a canon fluff moment, yell at me via FF to write to that point~  
**4:** One thing I was iffy about was the start when Zim was acting hostile towards my Tallest, I just hope the change In attitude wasn't too hasty. Even if Zim Is a defective, he wouldn't abandon his Tallest.  
__**5:** And one thing I've been dying to say in a 1960's Batman series narrator voice (imagine it, please) Is how has Zim cut himself up? What happened to that happy little Irken we once knew and love? What will Dib do with the footage? What will happen with a load of other crap I missed out? Stay tuned!_

**_Invader Zim belongs to Jhonen Vasquez, If I owned It I wouldn't be writing fan fiction I would be writing scripts~ _**


	2. The Proposal

**Slow Progress, Quick Changes**

_16th June XXXX 5:45 O'clock _

Though out the bizarre, radical, green and purple house was the sound of joyful laughter, the type of laughter you experience that leads to tiny tears and a painful sting In your stomach. The official Invader dubbed Zim clutched his stomach area and shifted around In his magenta chair, laughter bellowing from his throat.

"Oh-oh my Irk! Ahahaha that's so-so stupid!" More laughter erupted from the alien as he unwrapped his arms and flopped them over his control panel, his body lunging forward and leaning on the controls, his body quivering from his previous laughing fit, trying desperately to catch his breath.

"Hey-hey GIR come In here! You've got to listen to this!" Zim called to his SIR unit and within seconds the enthusiastic robot jumped from behind the big screen from which Zim was using for his research. The SIR unit saluted and flashed red momentarily, ready to listen to his master.

"Hear this GIR, Woodrow Wilson created the League of Nations for the main purpose of world peace because of a previous war but-" Zim put his hand over his mouth to try and prevent himself from laughing again, "-long story short, they ended up failing more than succeeding, which lead to another world war! How stupid Is that? Khahahaha!" Zim fell into another fit of laughter, this time smashing his fist against the dashboard. GIR stood their plainly, a small smile adorned on his metallic features. A few seconds later, the SIR unit fell over, It's once glowing blue appendages dull and grey.

Zim lifted his head up moments later, a brow arching In question. "GIR? GIR get up!" Zim commanded but the miniature robot didn't move. The Irken grunted, picking the robot up with his precarious claws. "What's wrong with you _now_?" Recently GIR had episodes of shutting down, at times it was useful but it meant conducting _another_ diagnostic and solving the problem, It was time consuming.

Time...

Zim's attenae perked up In realisation that he was suppose to be meeting up with Dib soon.

_5:51 O'clock _

"Damn, I'm going to be late!"

* * *

_6:03 O'clock_

It was a cool summers morning, something the being in the alley enjoyed. Dib Membrane-a paranormal crazed teenager-waited patiently for his extra-terrestrial rival to arrive. The boy's clothing of the day consisted of fitted blue chino's, his regular army styled boots, a black jumper with minimal, white Aztec lines running across his chest region and a crystal white, collared under shirt. He still wore his old glasses from when he was a kid, which ironically Is part of the modern style of glasses-despite everyone teasing him about them when he was younger.

"Tut tut..." Dib chimed as the clock ticked another minuet on his phone, deciding It would be best to send a text to Gaz just In case she wakes up early today. Despite not getting along, keeping in check was a common thing for them.

As soon as he tapped the send option on the touch screen phone, Zim appeared, agitated and breathless. The sight was more than amusing for the human, slipping his phone back into his front right pocket.

"Still panting, Zim? I never thought you were _that_ much of a light weight," Dib grinned, stepping closer to Zim but keeping a fair distance.

"Tch, bite me."

"Don't tempt me," growled Dib, his amusement fading rapidly into a more serious tone. "Now, about that tape-"

"You better give It to me or else I'll strap you to a cold metal table, open you up without anything to comfort your growing pain as I dig my claws inside your guts!" Zim screeched, getting up in Dib's face about It. The humans were stupid, very stupid, but this one time might be the one that'll convince them of who Zim really Is. The one with glasses smirked, resisting to laugh at Zim's death threat.

"But It's too late Zim, the footage I have of you Is already on a automatic E-mail, In 24 hours It'll be sent to Mysterious Mystery's unless I decline It, or send It manually." From Dib's point of view, It looked as if Zim flipped his lid, he picked up Dib by his collar and chucked him to the floor. It didn't hurt, but It shocked Dib enough for Zim to straddle him, desperately throwing punches at Dib. Particularly his head.

"You better erase that fucking E-mail! Delete It! Delete It!" Zim bellowed out the words 'delete it' the entire time he was throwing punches at Dib, acting as if he lost the plot and that It was the worst thing ever. The victim of Zim's wrath could only do so much since he was beneath Zim, they were both equal in strength but both had different ways of fighting.

Dib grabbed Zim's balled fists, and pushed him back so they were both sitting up. Now It's time for Dib to return Zim the same treatment.

Dib shoved the alien onto his back, making sure he scraped the bumpy and sharp textures of the ground. His movements were fast, putting his right knee on Zim's chest and putting his weight on his knee, effectively keeping him in place. Dib wrapped his dominant hand (left) around Zim's neck, the hold was firm but threatened to turn into a death grip at any given second.

After a few seconds of reckless struggles, Dib decided that now was a better chance for Zim to listen to his proposal.

"Listen you rancid space boy!" The boy started, "there Is another way of me not sending that E-mail but the decision Is based on your answer."

The alien perked up, seeing as he had no choice but to listen to the being on top of him but It was also a matter of his mission going into jeopardy.

"I want to make a proposal, Zim, In one months time, It'll be July. The 19th of July Is a special time for everyone who goes to school, because It'll be the 6 weeks holiday, 8 due to the new moose craving flu that Is currently spreading across the country-"

"Get to the point already!" Zim yelled, agitation clear on his green face. Dib couldn't figure If he was babbling on or the fact that he didn't make Zim any more comfortable sticking his bony knee into his chest and practically sitting on him.

"-Okay. I want to see the Massive. To look inside It, walk along halls of advanced alien technology, to really get a feel of It. I'm giving you until 6.p.m for your answer-"

The boy midway through his wish was cut off by the maniacal laughter of a certain extra-terrestrial, his body shook with effort, he looked like he couldn't breath. Dib wasn't impressed by Zim's reaction, a cold glare taking place.

"I'm not joking." All the enthusiasm was sucked from Dib's tone, his voice gloomy and dark.

It took a good solid 5 minutes for Zim to calm down, when ever he tried to talk the look on Dib's face set him off again, tears pricked his eyes and his face blushed a pinky purple colour. The alien exhausted his laughing, his body trembling and little hiccups of laugher weakly escaping his mouth. Finally he opened his eyes, wiped his tears away and looked up at Dib, he still held his serious attitude. In seconds, Zim's happy feeling shifted to a less desired emotion.

"You've got to be joking..."

"Do I look like I'm joking?" The expression of the humans face answered the question, the one beneath him felt uncomfortable with the angry stare he was receiving, It was as if Dib was peering into his soul. After the intense stare, Dib picked himself up and dusted himself off, turning on his heels ready to leave.  
"I'll call you at six." With that, Dib took his leave, leaving Zim irked.

* * *

_AN: See what I did there? Irked? Ahaaaaaa_

_This Is very small... I was about to extend this a bit more, but... shit got real :/ _  
_After re-reading the last chapter... I messed up the age thing aha, but... laziness. Please tolerate It. _

_Oh yeah, a little History at the start, I don't care about the accuracy, I didn't want to bore non-History lovers even though History Is amazing~ _

**_Invader Zim belongs to Jhonen Vasquez~ _**


	3. Zim's Decision

**Slow Progress, Quick Changes**

_That same day, 9:02 O'clock_

It was form time, the teacher, Mr. Molloy, had finished the register and was now letting the pupils chat until 9:10 as always. Sometimes he interacted with the class, however It was usually to make a sarcastic comment. However, he was Dib's favourite teacher.

There are 16 tables in the form room-which also doubles as a science room- all neatly placed. Dib sat on the back table on the right side of the room, Zim sat at the front of the column (two tables in between them), however that column was just theirs. No one sat near them, because they were different, the rest sat on the left side of the room, nearer to where the teachers computer was. The benefit of this seating plan was that they can communicate by throwing papers at each other with messages written one another without getting caught so easily. Occasionally they talked, however It was always to piss each other off.

The classroom was so indulged in their idle chatting that they didn't notice Zim walking into room, looking worn out and tired. Dib smirked, immediately scribbling into his note pad, ripping the paper out, crunching it up and throwing it at Zim's head when he sat down.

_Why so late Zimmy?_

'Wonder what his excuse Is this time,' Dib thought.

In a matter of seconds, Zim was jotting his answer on the paper, scrunching it up and aiming for Dib's glasses.

_None of your concern._

Zim's writing was just enough for Dib to decipher, remembering that he does have claws and that his native language was probably suited for his claws. Naturally, Zim's claws have crossed Dib's mind from time to time.

Again, Dib scribbled down another curious question and chucked it over to the burned out extra terrestrial and In which Zim inspected, jotted an answer and through back. The pattern continued for the whole entire form time.

_C'mon space boy, tell me~_

_I said It Is non of your concern you waste of oxygen._

_Don't be harsh now, It's just a question..._

_Exactly, just a question, don't fan girl over my physical state of fatigue. It's __disturbing._

_I can see someone brought their dark cloud in today, what's pissed you off? Failed experiment? Like always. Almost got caught? Like always. Your Tallest didn't want you any more? Wouldn't blame them~_

_Shut up._

As the bell rung signalling first lesson, the note passing ended, with Zim more pissed off than this morning, and Dib more curious with this attitude.

* * *

Zim and Dib only shared a few lessons together, they were History, R.E and Art. When it came to lessons such as Science, Maths and English, Dib was top set, as for Zim, he was skimming average.

First lesson was History, and the pair walked miserably to their designated classroom. The pair sat down, with a seat in between them. Even if no one wanted to work with them, doesn't mean they were willing to work with each other without a squabble.

"As a warm up, who can tell me where and why Mussolini invaded?" The teacher, Miss Dale, scanned the room briefly before setting her eyes on the green boy in the class room, scowling silently at the desk covered in permanent scribbles of profanity.  
"Zim, you tell me."

Zim looked up, and immediately answered without any flaws in his dialect.  
"Mussolini invaded Abyssinia due to the lack of supplies In Italy because of the wall street crash."

"Very good, now tell me-"

"Japan invaded Manchuria because of the same reason." Briefly, Miss Dale was shocked before appraising Zim with a dull 'good answer' before returning to her computer, preparing for the lesson. Zim had endured the same questions and answers now for the whole summer term that he could teach the lesson himself.  
For the rest of the lesson, Zim ignored the teacher and the filthy humans around him and scribbled in his History book, writing such things as 'humans are pitiful' and 'stupid Woodrow', all the while thinking about Dib's proposal.

In fact, Dib's proposal plagued his thoughts for the entire day.

* * *

_Later, In the afternoon, 17:47 O'clock_

If Zim could feel more superior, It would be at this present moment. He finally found the sneaky camera, after a month of constantly being watched, he finally found the fucker. Dib was pretty clever with this plan, he disguised it so It looked like it was apart of this DVD system that was apart of the house design, either way, simple Human thinking couldn't get past Zim's knowledge. Zim was making high quality camera's before Dib's parental units were even born.

He looked at what seem to be the lens, before crushing It with a death grip of his sharp claws, a faint buzzing and crunching noise emitting from the brutally murder camera. Pieces of plastic and wires fell hopelessly onto the floor, It satisfied Zim, feeling a little calm knowing the Dib-shit couldn't perv on his superior self.

Suddenly, the phone rung from it's holder, the annoying, loud sound piercing Zim's sensitive antennae. He seriously needed to upgrade the low technology, screeching device. With a quick swift of a claw, Zim answered the phone with a sneer.

"_What_?" Zim couldn't help but let the venom leak from his words, knowing full well who It was.

There was a pause for a few seconds before the voice at the other line piped up.

"I see you found my camera."

"Pretty clever how you hid It, but nothing lasts forever-"

Dib didn't even bother to wait for Zim to finish his gloating.

"About my proposal, did you think about it?" Dib was grinning against the phone, no matter the outcome, he was getting a good bargain. If Zim opposes to his proposal, Zim will be on a autopsy table in no time. However, if he accepts, Dib will get the experience of a life time, to get off Earth, and explore the Massive.

The green skinned alien stopped In his tracks, this proposal has been plaguing his mind since this morning, It's very distracting, and Zim couldn't figure what was worse, his own death by the humans, or death by trial by his own race. Even though Zim has drifted his intentions away from fully pleasing the Tallest and proving he's the best, he still didn't want to face trial because he was caught with a weakling human. Zim figured It was too late to start thinking about priorities at this present moment.

"Well?" Dib's voice sound exasperated, inpatient even. Did It really mean that much to him?

'What's the worst that could happen? I can fix anything that comes my way.' A quick mental pep talk In Zim's head immediately reassured him of his answer, he hasn't even said it, yet he's regretting it dearly already.

"...Fine. I accept your damned proposal, but I am not responsible for your own death. _You_ get your self in trouble, I'm not helping. I'm not about to risk _my_ life on the line just for yours." The words stung as they escaped Zim's mouth, a large lump forming at the back of his throat. He could practically feel the tear of his PAK.

A few seconds of silence pass before Dib responded. "Excellent," The human sounded sly and mischievous, "I will put a hold on the E-mail of you without your disguise on, I can't simply delete the file, I have to make sure you go through with this, _Zimmy_."

"You're making It harder for me not to send you flailing In out of space," Zim's voice was raspy and low, he may not be evident in his voice, but Zim could feel stress take over his like powerful waves, imaging all the possibility's the Dib-shit could do that leads both of them-more importantly Zim- into a early grave.

With that, Zim put the phone back into It's holder, there was no need to carry on a conversation that had been sorted.

He was going to take Dib to the massive.

What if he messes up? What if he gets caught? What If the Tallest wonder why Zim came to visit?

"Fuck," The extra terrestrial whispered as he lightly clutched his head, pulling the stupid wig off and rubbing his skin, in a vain attempt to calm the on coming head ache.


	4. Dreams Do Come True

**Slow Progress, Quick Changes**

**Chp.4 Dreams Do Come True**

_19__th__ July XXXX 6:34 O'clock_

"So, you'll be visiting us in four Earth days?" Tallest Purple questioned, from the other end of the call.

"Yes... er, the reason behind this course of action Is a break from Earth for a while, It's not all relaxing with a planet filled with endless subcultures."

After a few weeks of deep thinking, Zim thought of a plausible plan to ensure he is-If Dib's 'trip' goes downhill-safe, and not anywhere near a Trial.

First, Zim first informs the Tallest of his visit, to not bring suspicion If he is recognised after so many years. Then, he gives the Tallest his promised gift to them, to ease their minds and keep the heat off Zim. After the Tallest are out of Zim's way, he disguises Dib into a regular Irken with an average rank, so he is not kicked off the Massive for a low rank. Lastly, Zim waits for Dib to start needing Earth necessities like bathing and proper food, when that time arrives which shouldn't be more than a week on the Massive, they go home.

In Zim's eyes-more like ocular implants- the plan was fool proof, and was realistic. Looking at the logical points of a plan ensures It's success, something he didn't do when he was younger.

"I need a break, simple as that. I demand a cabin however for rest, in return, the gift I promised you from a while ago."

Zim noticed the glint of happiness In Tallest Purple's eyes when he mentioned a gift, he was the happy go lucky out of the two of them, he must appreciate the small things other than Tallest Red.

"Right, we'll prepare a cabin for you, I expect this gift to be a good one, Zim." Red's tone deepened, a sense of authority emitting from him, however, It didn't phase Zim one bit.

"It will." Zim ended the call, returning back to GIR on a metal table, in the midst of fixing him, yet again.

"You never seem to function like you use to..." Zim whispered to himself as he finished welding wires together. One hour later, Zim finishes and clicks GIR's head back into place, relieving a little once the baby blue lights of his eyes flashed up once again.

"I mizzed yoooouuu Masstttaaahhh," GIR screeched happily as he clung onto Zim's slender legs, hugging him tightly. Zim let out a little laugh before returning to usual research, once again.

* * *

_Later that day, 17:59 O'clock _

"I see, It's a okay plan, just the fact that I have no idea If your species has oxygen on the Massive!" Dib's voice was louder towards the end of his sentence, and the design of the phone made his voice more annoying and breathy. Zim never thought much about Dib's oxygen needs much, but Zim had breathing apparatus to suit a persons need in case his PAK was faulty with the air filter.

"I have a compact breathing pack you can borrow, It will suit your breathing needs. I actually made it myself."

"You think that will make me feel better?" Dib sniggered, proud of his comeback. A pause was present until Dib spoke up again. "How long will It take to get to the Massive?" Dib wanted to know every detail, he wants to ensure that he had enough supplies to last him.

"Approximately two days, we're leaving tomorrow, rendezvous at 'The Alley', usual time."

"Excellent," Dib's voice sounded unusually calm, for someone that was about to embark on an 'adventure'.

"Wouldn't your parental unit and your scary little sister be suspicious that you left your home all of a sudden?"

"I've told them both I was travelling around the states with Keef and his family."

"Pretty sneaky of you to lie through your teeth, that will be useful." For once, Zim appraised Dib, something he never thought he would do, but lying easily is something that will help them both.

Another pause was present until Zim's face perked up in realisation. "Dib, I require you to get me something for the trip..."

* * *

_20th July XXXX 6:01 O'clock_

Dib was waiting In the familiar alley, waiting patiently with a dull look on his face, but excitement constantly building up inside of him, he had butterflies in his stomach, nervous of the whole trip itself but intrigued at the same time. Finally, his life wish can be fulfilled. Dib didn't know much about the Massive, like temperature and gravity levels, but he kept himself casual.

Dib today was adorned in black, fitted jeans, his classic blue top with the straight face on, and a plain black Helly Hansen coat. He also wore a dark beige canvas back pack, consisting of his Canon camera, many breakfast and energy bars, and four bottles of water, along with 4 boxes of chocolate doughnuts Zim requested on the phone. Even Dib's theory's couldn't give a logical point why Zim wanted so many doughnuts, many times before has he gone days without eating food because, as he quoted, "filthy, vile, greasy, sad excuse for food!"

Speak of the devil, Zim appeared around the corner, gesturing with his claws for Dib to start walking to his house. Dib took note that Zim wore his Irken uniform, It's been a few years since he's seen those pinky clothes, wondering If the occasion was special, despite everything, he looked more thin than usual. The two were silent before Zim piped up, not even looking at Dib but taking In the scenery before he plunged himself into boring space with the same old stars. "Did you bring what I requested?"

"Uh, yeah, I did." Dib quickly undid his bag to present the four boxes of scrumptious doughnuts to Zim. The alien carefully taken them off Dib, making sure to not drop them.

"Good, they're perfect."

Dib continued to eye the boxes as well as Zim, until the green skinned boy had enough of the dumb expression Dib had and answered the human.

"They're for my Tallest, It will keep them occupied while you do your damned business. The substance called 'chocolate' has never been invented or heard of In the Massive or Irk, It's a sickly sweet substance so hopefully It'll please them for a while." Zim couldn't understand the attraction to such a rich flavour, It was nice, but Zim couldn't help but feel the need to purge just by looking at the treats.

It wasn't long before they returned to Zim's house, Zim wasting no time to quickly rush though though the living room to the kitchen, In order to get to the upper floor to his voot cruiser. The extra-terrestrial only realising how little space they would have...

"Get In," Zim demanded, practically shoving Dib into the disguised elevator, Zim following close behind, literally. They were lucky just to squeeze oxygen atoms between them, the space was so uncomfortably small that they started taking hits at each other about weight, BMI and anatomy. Obviously Dib loosing due to his lack of knowledge upon Irken anatomy.

As soon as the pair tumbled out of the compacted elevator, they strolled over to the voot cruiser and hopped in. Just like the elevator, It was compact. Regardless of Zim's growth spurt during his years on Earth, he was still smaller than Dib, small enough for Dib to look down at Zim if he wanted eye to eye contact. Meaning that Zim was comfortable, sitting smugly on his odd shaped chair, while Dib was squashed up in the back, both of his legs too long that he had to put them either side of Zim's chair. The black haired teenager could possibly touch the dashboard with his shoes if he tried.

Skilled, gloved hands danced over the control boards, making the voot cruiser hum as It awakened. Before take off, Zim looked behind to see the scrunched up mess of Dib, smirking a little at his pouting expression.

"Last chance to go back." In a flash Zim's expression turn dark, eyes harrow, the neon lights from his control panel intensifying his look. "It's highly recommended."

Dib brought himself closer to Zim, forehead to forehead, an audacious attitude forming.

"I wouldn't change this, even if my life _depended_ on it," The paranormal crazed teenager spoke softly and slowly. This had been his life dream-aside from wanting to expose Zim of course-but before Zim came to Earth, this Is what Dib has dreamed about. What he's always wanted. To see the universe. He knew there was life outside of Earth, and he's closer to seeing it! This type of thinking Is what made him fill with glee, and helped him through the bad times.

Now It's finally becoming true, his dream has finally come true... all because of his enemy.

* * *

I looked on my editing panel for this story and It said Views: 666... think this Is a sign that this story Is going to hell, whoops~

Wow, I might actually finish this story, If I do I might do a little dance around the house and then say- "Two more to go now." god damnnit... Nappa (dbz abridge reference hue hue hue hue)


	5. An Unexpected Arrival

**Slow Progress, Quick Changes**

**Chp.5 An Unexpected Arrival**

_**AN:** Quite a short chapter, due to certain events recently I've lost most of my motivation however I still plan to finish this story. Even though at times simply writing a paragraph is like pulling teeth. Not long now until this story is finished, I still wonder what the outcome of the ending will be, I have so many choices, either way, you will get your 5 second fluff that I planned for this story. _

* * *

_20th July XXXX 16:30 O'clock  
_

Weak whining emitted from the dark hair teen, writhing awkwardly as he suffered with pins and needles from being so cramped and being immobile for the 99% of the space trip._ Again_. Before this trip, pins and needles didn't feel so painful as it did now, and having Zim for company wasn't the best combination for his lack of knowledge upon the human body.

A low growl erupted from Zim as he halted the voot cruiser, causing Dib's body to hit the back of Zim's chair, and his legs to collide with the dash board. The quick action sent Dib flailing back, shorts gasps of air escaping his mouth as the prickling sensation worsened.

In a swift movement, Zim swung his chair to face Dib, irritation and annoyance taking place on his smooth, green features, ready to convey his emotions.

"Would you _STOP_ your never ending, weird noises?!" Zim hands clutched onto the base of his chair, claws scratching against the metal. Marks would've been engraved if it wasn't for Zim wearing his gloves.

Luckily for the human, the horrible, prickly sensation died down during Zim's brief rage. Dib thanked what ever God was out there, before Zim's recent actions boiled a fighting urge in boy, adrenalin rushing to his hands. He had to bite his tongue to prevent him from lunging at alien.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I'm sorry I can't control what Is completely natural and out of my control!"

"Shut up!" At this point Zim reached for Dib's lock of hair that seemed to defy the law of physics, pulling it veraciously, eliciting a ear piercing scream from Dib. It wasn't long until Dib was doing his part of the fight, reaching up and pulling at Zim's bare antennae. Lucky for Zim his antennae wasn't that sensitive, however It was excruciatingly painful if they're mistreated, especially if a certain scrawny human mauled on them like it was the last shred of food on Earth.

Moans and groans, screeches and screams were all that could be heard in the voot cruiser, the pair were far too proud to give up so easily. It's like every other fight, It was to prove something, trivial or not. The real reason, was to show who's race was superior.

It was positive It was the same as every other fight, it ended in bruises, cuts and bite marks. If an action hurt the opponent, they would do it again and again. The highlight of the damage was the shreds that was Zim's shirt, half of the shirt was in pieces, revealing the top right of his torso and his right arm. His pink collar was also ripped off.  
As for Dib, his coat had a tear in the sleeve and the zip was broken off and a bright pink bite mark on his cheek, clashing with his pale skin.

What ended the fight was a giant bump that caused the two to hit the glass of the cruiser, both of their heads colliding and causing them both to whine and feel light headed.

A few seconds of being a mess of limbs, Zim was the first to move, finding it hard to breath with Dib lying on him. He never knew how heavy a stick thin boy can be!

"Arrgh, get off me you heavy flesh sack of useless meat!" After struggling and kicking, he managed to push the heavy figure off of him, taking note that he wasn't moving. "Oh, wonderful! You're knocked out from that pathetic knock to the head!" Weakling human, at least it would be easier for Zim to inspect what the cruiser hit.

"Status report," Zim commanded, returning to his seat while he dragged Dib off the dash board, landing non too gracefully on the floor.

"A slight hit on the engine, but still working. It may worsen with intense speed." A robotic voice emitted from a sound speaker from the wall of the cock pit, Zim taking note while adorning a sour look.

"That means I will have to breath the same air as the Dib-shit even more now that it will take longer to get to the Tallest." Zim rubbed his eyes, taking a brief second before talking again. "Can you identify the ship we hit?"

"The Massive, sir."

Mere seconds past, Zim felt a mix of emotions, however he couldn't pin a certain one down. The green skinned alien wasn't sure if he was glad or shocked, It would mean he wouldn't have to be with the large headed boy for long, but why did he get to them so fast? He was certain It would take more time, he was sure of it!

"...R-right. Send a signal to open a mini tail pipe, inform the Tallest of my arrival, tell them I will meet them In the board room."

Quite a few years since Zim has been in the board room, not so much in as broke in. It was the discussion of Impending Doom one, at the time, he thought it was the best idea to get every little bit of detail.

"Done, sir."

"Excellent."


End file.
